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The season of spring has finally surfaced! Hurray! To celebrate the sunshine and warmness, here are some workout tips to spring into action at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville athletic club.

  1. Get Heated
    Rev up your heart rate with a dose of intense cardio. Fire up your metabolism.
  2. Explore New Movement
    Don’t continue to repeat the same movements over and over again. Invite some newness into your routine. Static movement is a great way to switch things up. Practice static holds in plank, low plank, low lunge, or wall squat. Feel the burn.
  3. Spice/Switch Things Up
    The winter months can create a lot of mental, emotional and physical stagnation. To snap out of that winter lethargy and boredom, reinvent your workout method. If you’re always on the bike, get off the bike and hit up the treadmill. If you are always concentrating on strength and overlooking cardio, look for new ways to get your heart rate elevated. If you have been overlooking stretching and flexibility, get yourself to a yoga class at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym. If you are constantly involved in strength training, explore fresh variations on squatting, lifting, and lunges. Spice things up! Get out of your comfort zone!
  4. Fuel and Hydrate
    Stock up on lots of greens and drink loads of water to improve your body’s alkalinity and cell vitality. Drinking half of your body weight per day is highly recommended.
  5. Detox
    Spring – a season of new beginnings and renewal – is a wonderful opportunity to detox. One sure way to rid yourself of toxins is to sweat. Take a crazy sweaty yoga class at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym to release any bodily toxins that you are holding onto. Another way to detox is via diet. As the days get warmer, it’s important to eat more cooling, light foods. Introduce more salads and fresh fruits and veggies into your diet. Take a break on all the heavy, comfort foods of winter. Favor refreshing, enlivening foods.

Happy spring, Greenville gym enthusiasts!

Tall Tale: Low-Carb /Slow-Carb diets are dangerous and bad for you.

Slow-carb and low-carb diets are totally criticized by (uneducated) nutritionists and the media. As a slow-carb enthusiast myself, I am constantly being challenged by friends and family as to whether or not my way of eating is healthy. They consider me an extremist or some sort of obsessed health nut. I assure you, I’m not.

Truth is, low-carb or slow-carb eating is not extreme or obsessive at all. It is merely a basic, clean, and conscious way of eating. In fact, it’s the same way primitive humans ate. Evolutionary speaking, humans are designed to eat a low-carb, high-fat, and high-protein diet. Yes, it’s true. Unfortunately, the opposite is usually recommended: high-carb and low-fat. That combo is no good. In fact, this carb craze is the reason for obesity and other western world health epidemics.

If evolution is not enough to convince you, let’s turn to science. Science has consistently shown that low-carb/slow-carb diets have the potential to cure most of the Western world’s major health concerns and reduce fat.

Low-carb/slow-carb diets have been shown to…

  • Reduce body fat way more than calorie restricted diets (you know, the ones that never work out anyways). Low-carb eaters can eat as much as they want of low-carb foods and still cut fat. No restriction? Sounds good to me.
  • Decrease blood pressure significantly
  • Decrease blood sugar levels and alleviate symptoms of diabetes
  • Increase good cholesterol (HDL)
  • Decrease triglycerides (way more than a low-fat diet!)

What’s more, low-carb/slow-carb lifestyles are easier to stick to because they don’t involve calorie restriction. Plus, they provide adequate and substantial nutrients. It’s a scientific fact that low-carb or slow-carb diets have the greatest potential to ward off common health concerns, promote fat loss, and reverse metabolic disease.

So, the low-fat, high-carb dogma that is circulating around is complete nonsense. It’s not fat that’s going to make you fat. Science has shown that high carb diets are the diets that promote fat gain. Sugar is the fat-inducing culprit. Not fat. So, if you really want to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight, low-carb or slow-carb is the way to go.

If you want to boost your fat loss and fitness goals you must pair your Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym workouts with a balanced, clean, and effective diet. Low-carb or slow-carb will not only promote fat loss. Being high in protein, it will also boost your workout performance at Pivotal fitness Greenville gym. Yet another reason to cut the carbs, up the fat, and up the protein!

Fitness, health, and nutrition experts and enthusiasts consistently claim that water boosts fat loss. But does it really? And if it does, how does this process work?

Let’s tackle the first question: Does water enhance fat loss?

The answer is YES. Okay…but why?

  1. Water serves as an appetite suppressant. If your water intake is sufficient, you are less likely to experience cravings. If you drink enough water, your hunger pains will be legitimate cries for food. If you don’t drink enough water, your hunger pains, more often than not, are probably cries for hydration.
  2. Your kidneys require an adequate supply of water. If they are leeched of water, they will not be happy and your body’s waste dumping process will be compromised. When the kidneys don’t get enough water, the liver ends up operating poorly. Your liver is responsible for receiving fat cells and converting them into energy (instead of letting them sit around and accumulate). With enough water, this conversion happens quickly and effectively, optimizing fat loss.
  3. When you start shedding fat, the body senses an emergency. Evolutionarily speaking, lack of fat suggests lack of food, which in turn, suggests lack of resources, including lack of water. Drinking an abundance of water helps to keep that biological panic and a potential binge at bay.
  4. Consuming lots of water increases urine output. Urinating is a process of thermogenesis – a mechanism by which the body produces heat. When your body produces heat, it’s using up energy i.e. burning calories. So, the more trips to the W.C. you take, the more calories your are burning.
  5. Drinking water boosts metabolism because the body has to warm the water up to body temperature. This increase in heat production burns more calories. It is recommended that you drink 1 liter of water first thing in the morning to really jump-start your metabolism.

Clearly, water appears to benefit the process of fat loss. However, I wouldn’t label it a fat loss dynamo. While it does offer mild support in aiding fat loss, it takes much more to burn fat and keep it off. It takes a clean, balanced diet combined with an active lifestyle. Drinking lots of water will not prevent weight gain and cut fat in the absence of the other healthy-living components. But if you have a healthy diet and keep up with your workouts at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym, water holds promise to augment your fat loss.

If you do both strength training and cardio at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville athletic club, try to drink about 1 gallon of water per day to sufficiently augment fat loss.

As a coffee enthusiast, it saddens me when coffee gets a bad rep. Truth is, hating on coffee is unwarranted. Research indicates that the pros of coffee consumption heavily outweigh the cons. In fact, coffee (in moderation…maybe even excess) is good for you! What’s more, coffee consumption has the potential to support and enhance your Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym workouts.

What’s so good about coffee? How can you benefit from regular consumption?

  1. Reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s. A 2009 study found that people who consume 3-5 cups of coffee per day in midlife are 65 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s later in life, compared to those who drank little if no coffee. Further research indicates that the caffeine in coffee may reduce the production beta-amyloid, a protein that is often found in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients.
  2. Reduce your risk of cancer. Coffee has lots of antioxidants, which may reduce your risk for certain types of cancer including colon, liver, endometrial, kidney, and oral cancers.
  3. Defend against diabetes. Drinking coffee has shown to lower one’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes, even those at high risk.
  4. Curb post-workout aches and pains. Before your workout at the Pivotal Fitness Grenville gym, sip on some java to cut post-workout muscle soreness, inflammation, and pain. The caffeine in coffee is thought to block the activity of adenosine – a chemical that activates pain receptors in cells. Caffeine…a preventative pain agent? Who knew!
  5. Keep your memory keen. Studies have suggested that coffee may keep your mind sharp and muddle-free.
  6. Reduce your risk for gout. Coffee consumption may ward off gout – an excruciating, arthritic disorder of the joints.
  7. Boost your workout performance. Sip on a cup of French pressed Colombian coffee (or whatever black coffee you fancy) pre-workout to boost and intensify your workout at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym. Coffee engenders a surge of endorphins giving you a nice high to work with while you are exercising.
  8. Keep your heart happy and healthy. It has been discovered that coffee drinkers have a lower risk of dying from heart related issues. Coffee is loaded with antioxidants, which may enhance blood vessel function, reduce inflammation, and protect LDL (bad) cholesterol from oxidation.
  9. Lower your risk for Parkinson’s Disease. Coffee boosts dopamine (a happy-inducing hormone) production, which may, in turn, protect against Parkinson’s disease.
  10. Defend against kidney stones and gallstones. By activating gallbladder contractions and encouraging the flow of bile, coffee may deter against gallstone formation. By increasing urine output, it may keep kidney stones at bay.
  11. Reduce your risk of stroke. The antioxidants in coffee may provide protection against stroke by enhancing blood vessel function.

Sip on a cup of Joe to protect your health and get in a better workout at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville athletic club.

Photo Credit: Black Coffee via http://flippyfloppy.tumblr.com/

 

 

 

Diets are a dime a dozen. There’s such a plethora of information out there, much of it contradictory and confusing, that it’s hard to know how and what to eat these days. That’s why I dig the Paleo diet. It, presumably, takes us back to how humans ate prior to the modernization of food and agriculture. Before all these crazy diet tactics, eating was simple. Humans consumed the following foods: fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, and seafood. That’s all, folks.

Why should you give the Paleo plan a whirl?

  1. Fresh fruits, veggies, meats, and seafood are high in beneficial nutrients, including soluble fiber, antioxidant vitamins, phytochemicals, omega-3 and monounsaturated fats, and low-glycemic carbohydrates – all nutrients believed to promote solid health.
  2. Paleo foods are low in refined sugars and grains, trans fats, salt, high-glycemic carbohydrates, and processed foods – all foods believed to prompt weight gain, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and additional health issues.
  3. Health nuts, faddists, fitness extremists, etc. did not concoct the Paleo diet. This method of eating organically evolved as a response to nature. What nature provided, humans ate for generations for the purposes of fuel and survival. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors did not have the excess of processed and contrived food choices that we have today – choices that are corrupting human health.
  4. Many diets leave you feeling depleted of energy and chronically hungry. This is bad news for your workouts at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym. The Paleo plan is different! Being high in protein and healthy fats, you will definitely feel energized and sustained. Plus, high-protein, low-glycemic diets have proven more effective for weight loss and maintenance compared to the oh-so-popular low-fat, low-protein, and high-carbohydrate diets.
  5. The carbs (unlimited fruits and veggies) consumed on the Paleo plan are of a low-glycemic index, meaning that they cause slow and controlled increases in blood sugar and insulin levels. Most carbs consumed these days do the total opposite, creating excessive insulin and blood sugar levels responsible for obesity, hypertension, undesirable blood cholesterol and other blood lipid levels, Type 2 diabetes and gout. No good.
  6. Consuming unlimited low-glycemic carbs from fresh fruits and veggies will slightly alkalize your body. Diseases and disease symptoms of acid/base imbalance (osteoporosis, kidney stones, hypertension, stroke, asthma, insomnia, motion sickness, inner ear ringing, and exercise-induced asthma) may improve.
  7. The Paleo plan, being high in soluble fiber, has proven effective in improving digestion, diseases of the GI tract, and inflammatory bowel diseases.
  8. High-protein diets, such as the Paleo diet, have proven helpful in reducing symptoms of depression.
  9. Low in salt and high in soluble fiber, the Paleo diet reduces bloating. If you’re working on sculpting some flatter abs at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym, you might consider pairing your workouts with the Paleo plan.
  10. It’s a clean, simple way to eat. No need to check labels. No need to research and fret over the caloric intake of anything and everything you consume. This plan is all about sticking to the basics. The grocery store should be a much easier place to navigate on this plan.

So, what do you think? Worth a shot? I think so. Test it out for a few weeks to see if caveman eating complements and enhances your training at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym.

Diet is just as important (even more important) as the time and sweat you put in at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym. For increased and sustained fat loss, diet is key. Fortunately, there are some simple dietary (and lifestyle) changes that you can implement to engender impressive, fat loss results. These tips, combined with an effective workout routine at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym, will score you major fat loss wins.

  1. Eat Breakfast – Within 30 minutes of rising, consume 30g of protein. My 30g breakfast of choice consists of 2 eggs, 2-4 pieces of bacon, ½ cup of legumes (usually red lentils or black beans), and sautéed spinach. If you’re in hurry, whip up a protein shake. This is an awesome way to kick-start your day and ward off potential cravings.
  2. Drink More Water – Keep your liver happy. When your liver is dehydrated, it does not metabolize fat as effectively. So, keep hydrating!
  3. Eat More Protein – I can’t stress this enough. Get at least 20g of protein per meal. At breakfast, this is especially important.
  4. Drink Green Tea – Green tea has fat burning properties as well as caffeine for energy. Studies also indicate that it is a good post-workout beverage.
  5. Don’t Drink Your Calories – Just stick to water, unsweetened tea, or black coffee. 1-2 glass of red wine per day, you may be happy to learn, is also allowed. No juice. No soda. No cocktails. No beer. If you have to ask, it probably isn’t allowed (unless it’s your cheat day, of course!).
  6. Walk There – I’ve made a habit of walking places even when it is more convenient to drive or rely on public transportation. Walking is good, low impact cardio and, also, very meditative. It’s an awesome way to clear the cobwebs!
  7. Choose High Protein Snacks – If snacking is just something you can’t rule out, turn to snacks high in protein: Raw, organic nut butters, nuts, cottage cheese, etc.

Sure, there’s a bunch of additional techniques and life changes you can explore further to promote rapid and sustained fat loss. These tips, however, are among the simple.

These changes, though simple, are not easy. It may be hard for you to forgo on soda or give up your sugary snacks. These tips, though simple, require discipline just like your Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym workouts require discipline. It’s amazing, however, how a few simple changes can create meaningful and lasting results.

For more fat loss tips and nutritional guidance, consult the team of personal trainers at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville athletic club.

The holidays have this sneaky way of adding excess adipose tissue to the belly region. All of the various seductive sweets really start stacking up after heavy, regular indulgence. That’s why it is incredibly important to stick to structure and pledge to discipline. Sure, this is the time of the year to be merry – to party, to indulge, and to unwind. Yet, you don’t have to completely lose yourself and stall (even backslide) on your fitness progress. If you want to maintain your current core strength and continue advancing, you must hit up the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym regularly and vigorously.

There are several yoga poses that, if practiced regularly, will keep your core strong, solid and toned. These poses are highly accessible and work all muscles of the core. Most core exercises only target the superficial muscles of the stomach (the 6-pack abs). These exercises, rather, target all layers – even the deepest layer – of your core. These deeper muscles are very important for balance.

Incorporate the following core yoga poses into your Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym routine at least 3 times per week for results.

Plank Pose

  1. Plank Pose (Hold 2 minutes)
  2. Down Dog (Hold 2 minutes)
  3. Dolphin Plank Pose (Hold 2 minutes)
  4. Dolphin Pose (Hold 2 minutes)
  5. Boat Pose (Hold 2 minutes)
  6. Half Boat Pose (Hold 1 to 2 minutes)
  7. Side Plank (Hold 1 to 2 minutes each side)
  8. Forearm Side Plank (Hold 1 to 2 minutes each side)
  9. Chaturanga (4-limbed Pose) Push Ups (5 to 10 repeats)
  10. Cat/Cow Exercises – Massage the internal organs of the belly and experience a sweet release in your spine. Do as many as you wish!

A fit core will support you in many ways. Yes, you’ll look good in a bikini. That’s not the only bonus, though. A fit core prevents lower pack pain and injury. A powerful core supports balance and allows you to exercise with less effort and more ease. A strong core cultivates stronger and more confident posture. Knowing this should definitely inspire you to give your center of gravity some extra attention.

A strong core is very empowering, creating outer and inner strength. To sculpt and strengthen your center, mix in a bit of yoga in your Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym routine.

Photo Credit: Image via Denice Lindell

‘Tis the season for feasting, indulging, and carbohydrate overload. If you’re already feeling the sluggish aftermath of excess carbohydrate consumption, it might be time to surrender the sweets and sweat out the accumulating impurities.

Yes, put down your gingerbread cookies, peppermint truffles, fruitcake or whatever your seasonal weakness is and get yourself to the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym immediately. It’s time to get down with a simple, yet stimulating circuit routine, inspired by Krissy Mae Cags, creator of BAMFit and a Rise Above Fitness trainer.

This circuit will be super effective if you keep up the pace. Remain active and really push yourself during your time at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville athletic club.

Okay, here we go. Are you ready? Yeah, you are!

Circuit Challenge:

  • 5 V-Ups
  • 10 Push ups
  • 15 Box Jumps
  • 20 Weighted Walking Lunges
  • 25 Kettlebell swings
  • 400M Run

Circuit Training

Running through this circuit routine once would be far too easy. That’s why you’ll challenge yourself to run through it 5 times! I said it would be simple. I never said it would be easy!

If you want to realize results, you have to challenge yourself. What’s more, if you’re going to indulge heavily in holiday pleasures, you must be willing to train hard – to put in lots of gym time and lots of sweat.

Don’t let this holiday season break your fitness routine and hinder your goals. Stick to structure. Create a Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym routine. Commit to clean eating 6 days a week and reserve one day per week for indulgences. I can’t emphasize this enough: Restriction is not healthy. Restriction will definitely result in a massive splurge at some point. That’s why it’s more effective to strategically incorporate your splurges so they don’t get in the way of your fitness intentions. Remember: Moderation in all things.

Enjoy your circuit training workout at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym. Most importantly, enjoy a happy, health-conscious holiday season!

Photo Credit: By Krissy Mae Cags via Instagram

Happy December all you Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym enthusiasts and heath nuts! Holy moly does time fly! 2012 is coming to a close. How it closes is up to you. Will it close on a note of health and wellness? That’s the hope!

The months of November and December are tricky months to navigate. Stress soars. Craziness increases. Diets plummet. Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym sessions fade into distant memories. It’s easy to lose your cool and fall victim to the holiday stress and its accompanying not-so-healthy temptations. Don’t fall into the trap. Stick to structure. Start 2013 off right!

So, the Thanksgiving Day feast recently hit. It probably hit harder for some. Post Turkey Day, the detox, damage control stage starts to kick in. Healthy, clean eating resumes for awhile. The gym is hit hard to sweat out all that turkey and its tryptophan inducing lethargy. Then, December hits – the month of candy canes, gingerbread men, fruitcake, excess, and indulgences. Uh oh.

Yes, December definitely has potential to put a dent in your diet. It’s so tempting to indulge in those traditional holiday treats. I mean everyone else is doing it. So, why not? Well, you know why. Like I said, we want to end 2012 feeling healthy and empowered. Not sluggish and stuffed.

Yet, rather than distance yourself from all temptation, why not create new satisfying and health-conscious indulgences? Do those even exist? Why, yes. They do.

Here are some protein-packed treats you can put back post-workout created by FitMenCook.com.

Sweet Potato & Oat Protein Cupcakes with Creamy Cinnamon Protein Icing

**Protein-Packed Cupcakes by FitMenCook via Instagram :: Whip these babies up for holiday party. Treat your friends to clean eating.**

Um…yes please. These protein packed delights are only 210 calories a piece. Not too bad, eh? They are made using Team Betancourt Big Blend French Vanilla Protein and they are good.

Icing Ingredients

8 oz. Fat Free cream cheese
2 scoops Big Blend protein
2 cups fat free cool whip
2 heaping tbsp cinnamon
1.5 tbsp coconut oil

Batter Ingredients

1 scoop Team Betancourt Big Blend French Vanilla Protein
1/3 cup oat flour
1/4 cup amaranth flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tbsp vanilla extract
3 packets raw Stevia
170 g sweet potato
1/3 cup Almond
1 egg & 1 egg white

Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees F. (Macros for 1 cupcake of the 6: 18 g protein, 17g carbs, 7.5g fat).

Brown Rice Flour & Almond Flour Banana Spiced Protein Pancakes

**Protein-Packed Cupcakes by FitMenCook via Instagram**

Here’s how to make muscle building pancakes! These pancakes, rich in complex carbs and healthy fats, are a wonderful post-workout indulgence! Bring on the batter and the lean bulking.

Batter Ingredients

1 scoop Team Betancourt Big Blend French Vanilla Protein
1 egg, & 1 egg white
1/4 cup Brown Rice Flour
1/4 cup Almond flour
1/3 cup Almond Milk (unsweetened)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 ripe banana
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 packet Stevia (optional)

(1) First, mix all DRY ingredients in a bowl, including protein powder, brown rice flour, almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda/powder, and Stevia. (2) Mash 1 ripe banana in a bowl. (3) Add in all wet ingredients to the batter and mix, including eggs, banana, and Almond Milk using a hand blender. (4) To ensure each pancake is the same size, use a measuring cup to dip batter out. Use a 1/4 measuring cup. (5) Set a small skillet on medium-low heat, lightly sprayed with organic olive oil and slowly add batter. (6) Let it cook. When the sides of the pancake look hard/firm, use a wide spatula to scoop the pancake up and flip it over. Each pancake usually takes about 3 minutes to cook. Be careful not to over or under cook!

Next, add your fruit topping of choice. Suggestion: Use Sugar Free Maple Syrup and fresh, seasonal fruits. (Approx. Pancake batter macros: 42g protein, 56g carbs, 22g fat).

There you have it! Two easy and scrumptious sweets to satisfy those cravings and support your workouts and fitness goals at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym. Enjoy!

Maybe your self-transformation progress feels like it has reached a standstill. Maybe you need an extra push to motivate and move you upward to finally achieve your fitness goals and create your best you. Maybe what you are doing right now is not enough. Maybe you need to rework your focus – to place your energies on a new exercise routine or a new meal plan. Maybe you just desire some new information – a fresh perspective on fitness, health, and healing.

The following 3 resources have helped to transform my life, fitness, overall health, and perspective. They steered me in the right direction, effectively and quickly enhanced my progress, and supported (and continue to support) my health.

The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss

Get thinner, bigger, faster, and stronger! Learn the ins and outs of the slow-carb lifestyle in this comprehensive book. Also, read up on how to improve sexual prowess, how to slim down, how to build 30 pounds of muscle in 30 days, and how to eat whatever you want in excess one day per week and still loose weight. That’s not all. You’ll gain additional weight loss and strength enhancement tips and tricks.

This book is accessible, informative, and self-supporting. You will gain plenty of tested tools to create your best you, including various exercises to perform while working it at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym.

Not sure you want to plunge into this massive text. Enjoy the first chapter FREE. I bet you’ll become convinced of its incredible value.

The Slow-Carb Cookbook (Online)

Enjoy lots of healthy, creative, and easy to whip up slow-carb eats in this handy-dandy online cookbook. These slow-carb meals will definitely enhance weight-loss and promote the buildup of muscle. Eat a slow-carb diet for 20 days, and you’ll surely realize inches lost, pounds lost, and definition gained. This diet will definitely support your workouts at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville gym by boosting your energy and creating a leaner, lighter, and stronger you. 

Eat-Taste-Heal: An Ayurvedic Cookbook for Modern Living

Learn about the healing science of Ayurveda – the most ancient system of healthy living and medicine. Create harmony within by eating foods appropriate for your mind and body and by involving yourself in healthy lifestyle practices, such as yoga and meditation. Learn to eat right for your unique make-up and design. Learn to personalize your health and healing and cater to your own specific needs. Completely restore and transform your health! Plus, experiment with new, healthy recipes and foods!

Use of these 3 resources will definitely complement what you’re already achieving at the Pivotal Fitness Greenville athletic club and may even get you to where you want to be faster and more effectively. So, add these fitness gems to your list of things to read and implement!